1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Josephson junction device formed of oxide superconductor, and more specifically to a Josephson junction device of an oxide superconductor, in which the weak link of the Josephson junction is constituted of grain boundaries of oxide superconductor.
2. Description of Related Art
A Josephson junction device, which is one of the superconducting devices, can be realized in various structures. Among the various structures, the most preferable structure in practice is a stacked junction in which a thin non-superconductor layer is sandwiched between a pair of superconductors. However, a point contact type junction, a Dayem bridge type junction and a variable thickness bridge type junction which are composed of a pair of superconductor regions which are weakly linked to each other also exhibit Josephson effect. In general, these Josephson junctions have fine structures in which the superconductor and/or non-superconductor are composed of thin films.
In order to realize a stacked type junction by using an oxide superconductor, a first oxide superconductor thin film, a non-superconductor thin film and a second oxide superconductor thin film are stacked on a substrate in the named order.
In the above mentioned stacked type junction, an insulator such as MgO, etc., a semiconductor such as Si, etc., and a metal such as Au, etc., are used for the non-superconductor layers so that each superconducting junction has different properties for each applications.
The thickness of the non-superconductor layer of the stacked type junction is determined by the coherence length of the superconductor. In general, the thickness of the non-superconductor layer of the stacked type junction must be within a few times the coherence length of the superconductor. Since oxide superconductor materials have a very short coherence length, a thickness of a non-superconductor layer must be about a few nanometers.
However, the superconductor layers and the non-superconductor layer of the stacked type junction must be of high crystallinity for favorable junction properties, which are composed of single crystals or are composed of polycrystals which are orientated in almost same direction. It is difficult to stack an extremely thin and high crystalline non-superconductor layer on an oxide superconductor layer. Additionally, it is very difficult to stack a high crystalline oxide superconductor layer on the non-superconductor layer stacked on an oxide superconductor layer. Though the stacked structure, including a first oxide superconductor layer, a nonsuperconductor layer and a second oxide superconductor layer, is realized, the interfaces between the oxide superconductor layers and the non-superconductor layer are not in good condition so that the stacked type junction does not function in good order.
In order to manufacture a point contact type junction, a Dayem bridge type junction and a variable thickness bridge type junction by using oxide superconductor, very fine processing is necessary to produce a weak link of a pair of superconductors. It is very difficult to conduct such fine processing with good repeatability.
The point contact type junction has been formed of two oxide superconductor thin films which are in contact with each other in an extremely small area which constitutes the weak link of the Josephson junction.
The Dayem bridge type junction has been formed of a constant thickness oxide superconductor thin film which is formed on a substrate and which is patterned in a plan view, so that a superconductor thin film region having a very narrow width is formed between a pair of superconductor thin film regions having a sufficient width. In other words, the pair of superconductor thin film regions having a sufficient width are coupled to each other by the superconductor thin film region having the very narrow width. Namely, a weak link of the Josephson junction in the superconductor thin film is formed at the very narrow width region.
On the other hand, the variable thickness bridge type junction has been formed of an oxide superconductor thin film of a sufficient thickness which is formed on a substrate, and which is partially etched or thinned in a thickness direction, so that a thinned oxide superconductor thin film portion is formed between a pair of superconductor thin film portions having the sufficient thickness. In other words, the pair of superconductor thin film portions having the sufficient thickness are coupled to each other by the thinned oxide superconductor thin film portion. Accordingly, a weak link of the Josephson junction is formed at the reduced thickness portion of the oxide superconductor thin film.
As will be understood from the above, a characteristic of the Josephson device has a close relation to the contact area of the superconductor thin film in the point contact type Josephson device, the width of the superconductor thin film region having the extremely narrow width in the Dayem bridge type Josephson device, and to the thickness of the thinned oxide superconductor thin film portion in the variable thickness bridge type Josephson device, each of which form the weak link of the Josephson junction. Therefore, in order to obtain a desired characteristic with good repeatability, a high precision at the sub-micron level of the processing, such as in etching, is required.
The Dayem bridge type Josephson device can be said to be more preferable than the variable thickness bridge type Josephson device, since the Dayem bridge type Josephson device has a relatively planer surface, which is preferred in an integrated circuit. In order to form the weak link in the Dayem bridge type Josephson device, it is required to pattern an oxide superconductor thin film having the thickness on the order of 0.5 .mu.m to 1.0 .mu.m into a width of not greater than 0.2 .mu.m. However, it is very difficult to conduct this fine patterning with good repeatability.
On the other hand, in the variable thickness bridge type Josephson device, the very fine pattering is not required in order to form the weak link. However, it is very difficult to uniformly control the remaining thickness of the thinned portion forming the weak link. In addition, the variable thickness bridge type Josephson device cannot have a planer surface by nature. This is undesirable in integrated circuit applications.
Therefore, in the prior art, it is almost impossible to manufacture a superconducting device, for example, a dc SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device), which has plural homogeneous Josephson junctions utilizing an oxide superconductor.